Warren Claims No Middle Class Tax Increase to Fund Medicare for All

Elizabeth Warren promised Friday to spend more than $20 trillion over the next decade to provide government-funded healthcare to every American without raising middle class taxes — finally answering questions about how to implement the massive "Medicare for All" program without taking a larger bite out of most Americans' salaries.

The Massachusetts senator famously "has a plan" for everything from providing universal child care to canceling college debt, but details of how she'd pay for her health plan come with far higher political stakes. Warren spent weeks, and two straight Democratic presidential primary debates, refusing to provide a straight answer on if she'd have to increase middle class taxes to make the numbers work.

The issue meant sustained tough headlines for Warren, who had ridden a steady summer rise in the polls to catch former Vice President Joe Biden atop the crowded 2020 primary field.

Her plan is built on transferring to the government 98% of the $8.8 trillion she estimates that employers will spend on private insurance for their employees.

"We can generate almost half of what we need to cover Medicare for All just by asking employers to pay slightly less than what they are projected to pay today, and through existing taxes," Warren wrote in a 20-page online post detailing her program.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees would be exempted and — in a nod to unions whose support will be key in the Democratic primary — Warren said that employers already offering health benefits reached under collective bargaining agreements will be allowed to reduce how much they send to federal coffers — provided that they pass those savings on to employees.

If the program fails to raise $8.8 trillion, Warren says she'd make up the difference by imposing a supplemental contribution requirement for big companies "with extremely high executive compensation and stock buyback rates."